Electric signaling apparatus



' (No Model.)

W. HENION.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

Patented Jan. 15, 1889.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEIcE.

\VILLIAM HENION, OF RITCHEY, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC SIGNALING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 396,207, dated January 15, 1889. Application filed July 25, 1888. Serial No. 281,033. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ILLIAM HENION, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Ritchey, in the county of IVill and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signaling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings and the letters and figures of reference thereon, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a section of the main track of a railroad and a switchtrack and of the signaling device connected with said tracks by means of ordinary telegraph-wires strung on poles. Fig. 2 is .a vertical longitudinal central section of the housing containing the signaling apparatus and a side view of the signaling apparatus therein. Fig. is a cross-sectional view of one of the main rails of the railroadtrack and of one of the slide-rails, and a side view of the device for opening and closing the electric circuit as the switch is opened and closed; and Fig. 4 is a front face view of the signaling a1i p: tratus, the front of the housing being removed.

Referring to the drawings, P represents an elevated platform supported on a pair of posts, P P, locatedat the side of the railroad-tracks A. On said platform P is placed an ordinary electric machine of the type termed sounder, having a horizontal lever, 0, provided with an armature, :r, the said armature being attracted by the electro-magncts Z, causing said lever to vibrate within certain fixed limits when the circuit is opened and closed. Above said lever, and arranged parallel therewith in suitable boxes, is a rotatin shaft, S, having secured to its forward extending end oppositely-extending arms S S, one of which arms has secured on its outer end awhite target, and the opposite extending arm S is forked and carries between its forks a spherical target colored red. Said shaft S is provided near its inner end with a radial arm, 0, for engaging the side of arm a near its upper part, and I) is a disk secured to shaft S a little in the rear of arm 0, and carries the bent arm 0, for engaging the side of said arm a near its lower part alternately with arm 0. Said arm 0 is bent in the form shown, so as to extend in the same direction as arm 0, so that it will engage the lower instead of the upper side of lever a as the shaft S rotates. The inner end of shaft S is provided with a pinion, n, which meshes with a gear-wheel, a, loose on its shaft, which shaft has secured on it the drum 0, upon which is wound a cord attached to a'weight, 1 and to the side of said gear-wheel is arranged the ordinary pawl-and-ratchet mechanism, so that a key maybe applied to said shaft to wind up the said cord, with its weight y attached, on said drum, which cord-andweight mechanism is for the purpose of rotating shaft S with its arms S, to alternately expose to view the colored targets R IV, as the arms 0 and c are alternately engaged and released by the arm a as it vibrates. An ordinary battery, 7*, is used in the circuit of the line-wires c, which wires are connected with the electric instrument in the ordinary manner.

H is a housing for inclosing the electric instrument and the parts immediately connected tl1erewith,aml has its front part extend and inclose said arms above the shaft S, so that only one target will be exposed to view at the same time, and that one thelower one, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The said electric instrument is connected with one of the main rails and with a slide-rail of the switch by means of the line-wire c, strung on poles in the ordinary manner, as shown in Fig. 1.' Fig. 1-3 is a detail view showing particularly the manner in which said wires are respectively connected with said rails. Looking at said figure, L is a metal rod secured at one end to the under side of one of the main rails A by means of the clip E, securely bolted to the under side of said rail. G is a strip of some material that is a non-comluctor, placed between said clip and rail, so as not to ground the circuit. The opposite end of the rod L is covered or protected by means of some material that is a non-conductor, as shown at K. Said non-conductor end or .part K of said rod is held loosely in a sleeve, F, secured to the under side of the adjacent slide-rail B in such manner that when said slide-rail is moved said sleeve will traverse said rod L. hen

said slide-rail is moved toward the main rail, so as to set the rails for the switch, the sleeve F will be moved along on said rod L until it comes in contact with its part not protected 5 by the non-conductor K. Such contact of sleeve F with the part of said rod not prtected by the non-conductor will cause the electric circuit to he closed as the line-wires e are respectively connected with said sleeve 0 and clip, as shown in Fig. 3, and when the parts are in the position shown in said figure the circuit will be open. hen the circuitis closed, it is at a time when the trackis set for the switch. The armature .1: will then be attracted by the electroanagnets Z and depress the outer end of the lever a, causing it to release its contact with arm 0 and permit shaft S to rotate half-way around until the opposite arm, 0, engages the said arm a, thus ar- 2 resting the further rotation of said shaft, and

holding it arrested so long as the circuit remains closed and the track set for the switch, causing the target-signals to change positions from that shown in Fig. so as to expose the red one instead of the white one, to indicate to the engineer of a train passing the signal and going toward the switch that the track is set for the switch. hen the slide-rails are moved so as to leavethe main track clear, the circuit will be open. The armature a:

will then cease to be attracted by the electro-magnets, and the coil-spring m will oscillate the outer end of the lever a upward and releaseit from contact with arm 0, so that shaft 5 will rotate one-half way around until arrested by the contact of its arm 0 with said arm a, as shown in Fig. 2, causing the targets to change positions and expose the white one to view, as shown in said figure, so that the white target is exposed to view when the main track is clear, and the red target is exposed to view when the track is set for the switch simply by opening and closing the electric circuit by moving the slide-rail 13, as

stated.

For night use, an ordinary lantern can he used in place of the red target, which will show a white light when exposed to view below, or a red light by shining through red glass windows V V, arranged in the sides of the housing II, as shown. 'lheline-wire cinay pass through the otliee of the road, so that the circuit could he opened or closed by any operator, if for any reason it is necessary to do so,

without operating the switch.

Having thus described my invent ion, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters atent, is as follows, to wit:

1. In the electric signaling apparatus shown and described, in combination with the vibrating lever aof the electric instrument, the shaft S, adapted to be rotatable by means of a cordand-weight mechanism and having the oppositely-arranged arms 0 and c for alternately engaging said lever, the oppositely-arranged arms on the outer end of said shaft respectivel y having dilfercnt-colored targets R \V on their outer ends, the housing H for alternately exposing said signals to view, rod L, having one end protected to be a non-conductor and arranged to be within sleeve F, sleeve F, secured to the slide-rail B, clip E, for securing the opposite unprotected end of said rod to main rail A, non-conductor strip G, rail A, and line-wires 2, arranged to connect the opposite poles of the electric instrument, respectively, with said rails and with each other through the medium of bolt L, clip E, and sleeve F, to form an electric circuit, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In the electric signaling apparatus shown an d described, in combination with the vibrating lever a of the electric instrument, the shaft S, having the arms 0 c, and arms S, having respectivelydifferentcolored target-sarranged on their outer ends, the cord-and-weight mechanism, the housing I-I, having the colored opposite lights V V, the line-wires e, and the permanent rail A and slide-rail B, connected so as to openv and close the electric circuit, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an electric signaling apparatus, in combination with the electric in stru ment 1] aving the vibrating lever a, the rotating shaft S, having the oppositelyarranged arms 0 c for alternately engaging said lever, the oppositely-arranged arms S, respectively carrying on their outer ends the different-colored targets, and the housing l-I, arranged to cause said targets to be alternately exposed to view, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4-. In an electric signaling apparatus, in combination with an electric instrument, linewires, and main and slide rails of a railroad, the rod L, having one end protected to be a non-conductor and secured at its opposite end to one of said rails in such manner as to be separated therefrom by a non-eomluctor, and the sleeve 1*, secured to the opposite rail in such manner as to receive the non-conductor end of said rod, so that it may reciprocate therein and alternately bring it in contact with the conductor and non-conductor parts of said rod to open and close the electriccircuit, substantially as and for the P11111030 set forth.

WILLIAM HENION.

\Vitnesses:

THOS. H. lIUrci-ims, A. (I. l'lENION. 

